


Princess

by Slumber



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: (But no Marauders), Gen, Marauders Era (Harry Potter)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-09-10
Updated: 2011-09-10
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:21:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,115
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26381812
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Slumber/pseuds/Slumber
Summary: Lauren's cat has been reading her diary.
Kudos: 1
Collections: 30-minute Writer's Block Challenge





	Princess

"I'm pretty sure my cat is reading my diary."

Marlene McKinnon looked up from her bed, where she was reading through Hogwarts, a History. "Sorry?"

Lauren Madley was running her fingers through her long golden hair. She'd just undone its plait, and it cascaded in large wavy curls down the front of her nightgown. Princess, her cat, nestled on her lap, purring quite contentedly. It was a change of pace-- usually the cat liked playing "I'm above snuggling" with Lauren. The girl had a thoughtful look. "I came in from practice a few hours ago, and I _swear_ Princess had her tiny little paws on my diary. Isn't that odd?"

"Aww, she's adorable," Marlene said, ignoring the comment Lauren made. She hated to stereotype but Lauren _was_ blonde. This wasn't the first statement she'd made that had made absolutely no sense. Marlene was a much more sensible girl, all things considered, really. She propped up the book on her knees, resting her feet against the edge of her desk as she leaned back. "Come here, Princess," she cooed, coaxing the cat over.

Princess turned lazy eyes in her direction. She blinked, slow and deliberate, then turned away.

"She's never warmed up to you," Lauren said with a small giggle. "Sorry, Marly."

"Oh, whatever. I'm just not a cat person," Marlene muttered.

"Princess just isn't a Marlene cat."

"You know you're going to get found out soon enough," Marlene said, putting on a more serious tone. Lauren usually listened when she had her serious tone on. "You've got to tell a professor you found a cat in the grounds. What if it's, I don't know, part-kneazle or something? Maybe that's why it's stalking us around."

"Oh, Marlene, be _sensible_ ," Lauren told her, and Marlene nearly fell over in shock. Be sensible? _Lauren_ had been the girl who found the stray in Hogsmeade, smuggled her in even though she already had an owl and students were only allowed one pet, and _kept_ her. Marlene thought _that_ wasn't being sensible at all. "Princess can't be part-kneazle! Theresa already looked it up in the library the other day-- she says they have odd ears and tails and Princess is _obviously_ a cat."

Marlene sighed and rolled her eyes. "Whatever you say, then," she said. "She was probably just playing around with your stuff. Cats do that, I hear."

"Yeah, well, _I_ knew that," Lauren said. "I just thought it was amusing because she _looked_ like she was reading it."

"Who was reading what?" Joyce Summerby asked, wandering into their dorms. She dumped a large bag on the floor beside her bed and leapt onto her sheets, freshly-washed hair dripping water everywhere as she did. 

"Watch it!" Marlene warned, shielding her book protectively from Joyce's mad water-spraying hair.

"Sorry," Joyce said, sharing a Look with Lauren. Both girls snickered, and Marlene bristled. It's not as though she couldn't _tell_ when they were making fun of her. 

"My cat was reading my diary today," Lauren told Joyce proudly. 

"Is she?" Joyce asked, crawling over to take Princess from Lauren. "She's a smart cat, isn't she?" She stroked her behind her ears. Princess purred, but decided she'd had enough a minute later. She tried to squirm away from Joyce, landing on her feet with a large meow.

"She's a true Ravenclaw cat," Lauren agreed. 

Marlene rolled her eyes as she preened like some peacock mother. "Watch it, or your Ravenclaw cat's going to disappear on you again soon," she said, eyeing Princess as she sauntered out of the room. Princess liked doing that.

"Oh, she'll come back," Lauren said with a wave of her hand. "She always does."

Marlene hummed. The first time Princess disappeared was the first night Lauren had taken her home. Lauren had barely gotten any sleep-- her eyes were red and puffy and she'd almost been declared unable to play in the match against Hufflepuffs the next day. She'd been near inconsolable, and it was only when Princess reappeared in the dorm, a few short days later, that anybody had been able to convince Lauren to stop worrying. But Princess liked to keep herself amused, and often she disappeared for long periods of time. 

Neither Marlene nor Lauren nor Joyce knew where she went off to, or what she did, but they'd all learned to trust that Princess would find her way back home, as she always did. Marlene was starting to suspect that perhaps Lauren wasn't the only human Princess kept in her life, that some days she went back to her owner in Hogsmeade, whoever that was. It helped explain why nobody ever seemed to put up a sign anywhere about a missing cat. Cats can't go missing if they return, can they?

It didn't seem as though Princess planned to leave tonight, though. At least not yet. She wandered back in not long after, rubbing her feline neck against a leg of Lauren's bed before she settled beside it.

"Hey, Lauren," Joyce said. "Chris says we ought to start planning for the next match anyway. Do you have a minute to talk?"

"Oh, yeah, sure." Lauren scooted closer, taking out a small notebook from her school bag. "I was drawing up a few plays in History today, if you want to look?"

The two girls continued their conversation, talking in low murmurs that faded into the background. Marlene returned to her book, let the history of the castle draw her back in again. This was how most evenings at the Ravenclaw seventh year girls' dormitory usually ended up, and it was always a happy, comforting sort of evening. Lauren and Joyce would discuss Quidditch and teammates and boys, and Marlene would be seated in her corner of the dormitory, nestled against her pillows and reading any one of a dozen books that she had on her desk. 

From the corner of her eye she watched yellow head huddled with dark brown, the frantic movement of hands drawing plays on a scrap of parchment. By the bed, Princess was still lying down, though her ears were perked and her eyes alert. The cat, Marlene thought, never seemed to relax.

She sighed, and turned a page.

***

Late that evening, with no one in the castle a-stirring, a tall figure snuck her way back through the other side of Hogwarts.

"Password?"

"Lemon drops," she said.

"Isn't it past curfew, Ms McGonagall?" the Fat Lady asked, swinging open. "Enter."

"Minny! Where _were_ you?"

"Now's not the time to ask questions, Charles, if you know what's good for you," Minerva said. She waited for the confused silence before she beamed. "I know what the Ravenclaw's new strategy is all about!"

**Author's Note:**

> Please consider donating to local organizations who support trans individuals in your area.


End file.
